hapter 63: The Choices We Make

Jack knew something was wrong the moment he saw the Normandy in the Turian ships cargo hold. The airlock was blown open from the outside and he doubted the Turians would try to blow their way in once they knew he wasn't onboard. That didn't answer the question of what actually happened though. Why was the stealth drive damaged, and more importantly, how did the Collectors find them again if it was active? Cerberus had assured him that this version of the Normandy was better than the original and wouldn't suffer the same fate. Obviously, that wasn't true, The Illusive Man would have a lot to answer for if they got out of this mess. His first priority though had to be making sure the crew was alright and Victus got the evidence he wanted.

Approaching the inner door, Jack could see someone had put up electrified crates from the cargo hold as a way to create a barrier. How much time did they have to work on this before the Turian ship picked them up? Was there a way to get around it, or, was he going to have to find another way to break into his own ship? Jack was glad the crew didn't plan on giving up the ship so easily but, they were technically in friendly territory. Had whatever was left of the Cerberus ctew mandated this security or was it the others as a precaution? To be fair, they did have two illegal AI's on the ship as well as a formerly dead SPECTRE running around. If they had any other option but cooperate, he probably would've taken it. Even if he managed to convince Victus to let him go to attack the Collectors that didn't guarantee the Turian wouldn't take them into custody after they were done.

Miranda spoke loudly so that anyone inside the ship on the other side of the crates would hopefully hear them, "Whoever's guarding the door right now needs to move out of the way, I'm going to warp these so we can come in."

Out of nowhere, the crates disappeared revealing Tali on the other side, "That won't be necessary, I just used some of Legion's old hologram software to trick these bosh'tets."

Tarquin shook his head out of frustration, "Why didn't I have one of my men test that first...? Damnit, I'm an idiot."

Garrus' mandibles twitched with a shrug, "You say idiot, but I say it makes you a good leader for not potentially sacrificing one of your people."

Jack stepped towards her putting his hand on her shoulder, "Are you ok? What happened?"

Tali sighed giving him a little hug before glancing between them all, "It's better you see it...without our new hosts..." She added glaring in Victus' direction, "I wouldn't want him to get more charges for all of us."

Jack gave a subtle bow of his head understanding the AI were probably involved with what happened, "EDI, transfer all data Cerberus has on the Reapers and Collectors to Sergeant Victus." He then looked at the Turian, "And then get the hell off my ship to give that data to your father."

EDI answered ignoring the hostile atmosphere in the room, "Acknowledged Shepard, sending data now."

Victus gave him a Turian version of a sneer, "Oh don't worry, I'll move as fast as possible. So we can get past this charade and I can throw you all in the brig until we reach Earth."

Once he left, Tali gave Kal another hug, "Come on, I didn't know what to do by myself and...shit. Kal...I did everything I could."

Mordin moved past the rest of them, "Need to make sure lab is intact. Will be there if needed."

Garrus rolled his eyes calling after him, "Your welcome by the way." He sighed, "We're all in this because of him you know."

Miranda started glancing around the room, "I think we have plenty of things to worry about besides Mordin right now."

As soon as she moved out of the way and started leading them through the CIC, Jack felt his legs go weak. The empty halls of the ship made him aware of exactly what happened here, the Collectors attacked them. It didn't seem possible but, all the pieces fit, if there had been a large battle there would be bodies everywhere. The scene was exactly like Freedom's Progress and Horizon with work half done and food still laying on plates. He was supposed to protect these people and he failed. This was the last straw for some reason, no matter what The Illusive Man would promise or say, he couldn't believe a word of it. His words about the stealth drive appeared to be a lie that made everyone too complacent to prepare for the worst.

Feron frowned examining the scene, "I'm tired of seeing everywhere I look get turned into a graveyard."

Kal's voice was already breaking up knowing the answer to his question before he asked, "Zero...?"

Tali couldn't look at him tapping the elevator instead, "She said you were the best father she could have ever asked for..before throwing me to safety..."

Kal turned around and kicked a chair with an angry sob, "God fucking damnit!"

Hearing the raw heartbreak in Kal's voice was almost worse than knowing the truth. It had only been a few months but, Zero had made an instant albeit reluctant connection with Kal and had just started warming up to him as well. This was his fault and he knew it, not only for trusting Cerberus but, for keeping her here. When she had been injured he had the perfect opportunity to send her some place relatively safe. At least safer than the warship, yet he had let her decide what she wanted to do. While it was probably the first time anyone in her life actually listened to what she wanted, the result was getting her killed. He put a hand on Kal's spine to try and calm him down and thankfully he leaned into it. Jack had been worried Kal would blame him for what happened but, his reaction to the touch made it clear that wasn't the case.

EDI's orb appeared next to them on the wall, "Not all is lost for Subject Zero. The files I have recovered from the Collector dreadnought seem to indicate they keep victims alive for a few days. Even though twenty seven hours have passed since the abduction, Zero's biotic ability will most likely grant her more time for experimentation."

Kal seemed to stiffen up determined, "Then we need to come up with a plan to get her out of there as soon as possible."

Jack's mind was racing from what EDI had just told them. He had always felt like they had been on a clock to prevent the Collectors from taking any more colonies but, there were weeks and months to accomplish that. Now, the fate of his lost crew hinged on just a few hours. If he had full control of the Normandy, they would be leaving right now to save them regardless of the stealth drive. However, right now they were trapped inside the cargo hold of a Tutian ship intent on throwing them back to Earth. Personally, he doubted Victus would release them fast enough to save the others but, he couldn't tell Kal that. His husband needed to have the hope that they would get Zero out of there.

He pressed his forehead to Kal's helmet and whispered, "We're gonna get her out of there." Jack pulled away to ask, "EDI, how long do you think we have to save everyone?"

EDI replied, "If the Collectors are working on the same time table as described in the files, sixteen hours."

Leng kneeled down picking up a dead seeker drone, presumably scanning it with his fake eyes, before putting it in his pocket. "The crew should've been more prepared for this. You can't expect to hit a hornets nest three separate times in a row and not expect to get stung back."

Kal snapped moving to get in his face, "We didn't think we had to prepare because the stealth drive YOUR people designed failed! We were trapped in a vulnerable tin can and didn't even know it!"

Leng put his hands behind his back with a smirk, "Maybe your right, maybe your wrong, I don't know. The real question is what are you going to do about it?"

He was about to stop Kal from punching him which the assassin clearly wanted when Tali said loudly, "It wasn't the stealth drive! That got damaged after we had to make our get away. A member of the crew used the IFF as a ping to get the Collectors to show."

The revelation was like a glass of cold water splashed on his face. One of the people he left on the ship contacted the Collectors to kill them. It made no sense at all, why would someone actively doom themselves to death like that? Surely everyone on the Cerberus part of the crew knew what they were capable of to the point that they'd know the call was suicide. That only implied it was a member of the team he picked to be here which also made no sense. None of the members he left behind to go to Tuchanka had any reason to call the Collectors. Even the most likely candidate literally had a control unit in his head to stop himself from thinking about doing that. What happened here?

Leng chuckled as the group went down the elevator to the medbay, "It's a wonder to me you've actually gotten this far Shepard. At this point your crew is trying to kill each other rather than be under your command."

Feron countered quickly looking at Tali, "I'd imagine trying to ping anything off of a Reaper IFF would require more skill then an average crew member yes?"

Tali surprisingly wouldn't look at him either, "The Reaper code is extraordinarily complex yes, you'd need very fast processing power to pull it off."

Kal glared in Miranda's and Leng's direction, "Meaning your AI stabbed us in the back."

Tali pushed a button to open the medbay door, "No, I don't like Cerberus just as much as you but, EDI is the only thing that kept us alive."

When the door opened, Jack was hit with a few surprises all at once. First, the only people inside were Saren, Kasumi, Joker, and Legion. These four plus Tali were the only crew members left alive. He didn't know what he was expecting when every other Collector attack he had been apart of left no prisoners but, he assumed a few lucky crew members would have locked themselves in a hold somewhere. It wasn't as though he got to know any of the Cerberus support staff but, he seriously doubted any of them deserved the fate set upon them. Jack was also going to miss someone like Chakwas, she had taken care of the crew through everything without a complaint. Second, Kasumi was holding her pistol to Legion while Saren had a bandage around his head. He was starting to get a very sick picture of what happened while he was gone.

Miranda folded her arms looking around the room, "Everyone? You lost everyone, and damn near lost the ship, too? Jesus Christ..."

Joker had a sarcastic tone, "What did you expect? The halls were empty because we had a surprise party planned? Surprise! Everyone's dead."

Miranda shot back, "I expected more than the three stooges to be left alive. We had protocols for this sort of scenario, why weren't they followed?"

EDI spoke up for him, "By the time I was aware something was happening, the Collectors locked down the ship. None of the escape pods or elevators were functional onboard. To use a Human phrase, the crew were like fish in a barrel."

Miranda glared at Joker again, "Were the sensors somehow not picking up the massive dreadnought trying to sneak up behind you?"

Tali's voice had some irritation to it, "It's not his fault, Miranda. None of us caught it."

EDI continued on laying out the facts of how they were found, "Tali is correct. The harmful data in the Collector drive was even more sophisticated than the 'black box' Reaper viruses I was given. However, the original call to the Collectors came from inside the Normandy's Captains cabin. This was sabotage."

Kasumi motioned to her pistol pointing at Legion, "When the dust settled, this tin can and Saren were the only people that came out. My bet was the Geth, so here we are."

Legion's voice was extremely defensive, "I was not trying to harm anyone, I was protecting all of you!"

Saren rubbed his browplates, "I recruited Rael to remove my control chip and Legion apparently had other ideas."

Rael finished with, "I shut Legion down to the point that he could only use external comms. I underestimated what he would do with them."

Jack looked down to his feet not knowing what was the best way to react right away. Leng's use of Saren with the chip installed showed he needed it removed. He hadn't wanted Saren to be a card that his enemies got to play at a pivotal moment. Going behind everyone's back though to get that done had consequences. It had been his choice to let Saren do this and only now could he see the worst thing that could happen wasn't Saren dying on his new bed sheets. His decision most likely cost him the entire support crew and Zero. If Saren's face was more smug at least there could be the argument that it was worth it to get Saren free. His expression told him that wasn't the case, Saren was still chipped and the loss was for nothing.

Legion seemed to be desperately trying to defend himself in the otherwise silent room, "I was reading a seventy percent chance that if the chip was removed, Saren would turn on the crew. I predicted calling the Collectors to our location would cause the Normandy to go into evasive maneuvers preventing the procedure."

Feron tilted his head as though he was interrogating a suspect, "Did it work?"

Legion shrugged slightly, "Unknown, I was locked out of my optical sensor until after we escaped."

Rael took over interrupting Saren, "Yes it did, the ship was vibrating too much for me to have a steady hand... Commander, I take full responsibility for the loss of the crew."

Miranda ignored the sentiment, "He could be lying."

Leng tilted his head back and forth, "Only one way to find out. Activation code 227: Saren, punch your brother as hard as you can on his burnt mandible."

Saren growled but stood up and marched over to Garrus. In one fluid motion, Saren sent a biotically charged fist across Garrus' mandible sending the Turian down with a yelp. On the surface, everything appeared to be the same, Saren had done what he was told. Jack had been watching him closely though and noticed he hadn't been shaking or resisting the order like every other time he received orders from the chip. He had wanted to punch Garrus meaning it was an act, Rael had removed the chip and they were lying about it now. While Leng's new optical sensors might not be able to catch the inconsistencies, Miranda surely spotted them if he had. Yet, she just gave Jack a 'I hope you know what your doing,' look not saying anything.

The Turian winced shaking his own fist, "I'm sorry about that brother."

Garrus gave him a thumbs up from the ground, "Not your fault."

Tali moved to help him up, "Are you ok?"

Garrus tenderly rubbed his mandible standing up himself, "Yeah, just glad it wasn't anything worse."

Leng chuckled with a smirk, "I think this demonstration was enough proof for now."

Legion just had to speak up, "Good, then the potential crisis has been averted. A few deaths was worth preventing Saren from betraying us later."

He closed his eyes and predictably heard Kal draw his gun, "Say that to me one more time you bosh'tet!"

Legion began again as if nothing had changed, "A few deat-"

Tali moved in front of Kal to get between him and Legion, "NO! Please... I know your angry and scared, that you want someone to blame. But please, don't kill him. He's all I have left... Please."

Jack watched with a sense of paralysis as Kal's shakey hand pointed his gun at Tali. He knew Kal wasn't specifically aiming for her but to get to Legion behind her. Seeing a Quarian defend a Geth from another Quarian would've been a fascinating sight if he didn't know everyone involved. As it is, Jack didn't know what the immediate response he should have here. Jumping Kal only brought up the risk of him accidentally pulling the trigger, surely he would snap out of this anger. Like it or not, Rael shared that space with Legion meaning they had to keep both alive. Rael was on the cusp of finding a way to defeat the Reapers, Kal had to know that was more important than getting vengeance for Zero. Right?

When he was still holding that shakey hand up to Tali's head after a few seconds, Jack spoke tenderly, "Kal... put down the gun."

Kal's voice was full of venom, "That thing deserves to be in the scrap pile! It killed people! Our people based on nothing but a fucking number algorithm!"

Garrus jumped in with a far more stern tone, "Kal, I don't want to have to do this buddy but I will put you down if your finger goes to that trigger!"

Tali and Jack whipped their heads around and spoke at the same time, "WHAT?!"

Just as he said, Garrus was holding his rifle to his eye and pointing it at Kal. His heart was pounding at a thundering pace watching his crew tear each other apart from the inside. None of these three hated each other, they were just defending what was the most important thing to them and it was blinding everyone's judgement. It was tempting to follow suit and continue to escalate to protect Kal but, that would only lead to blood. Jack needed everyone to cool off and see the bigger picture here. This was what the Collectors would be dreaming of if they knew all the internal dynamics of the crew, they just had to be forced to see it.

Leng had an amused smile on his face, "Well this just got a lot more interesting."

Jack put on his loud commander's voice, "No one is going to be putting anyone else down! Understood?"

Kal seemed to snap out of it with a very guilty voice realizing what he had started, "Understood."

Jack let out a deep breath, "Kasumi, take Legion somewhere locked up for the time being until I know what to do with him." Once Legion was gone he continued, "Sixteen hours... We have sixteen hours to save our people, so we should be focusing on that instead of ripping each other apart."

Leng folded his arms, "Unless we somehow unlock the cargo hold door, I don't think Victus will be able to make a conclusion on anything we gave him in time. I mean, I could totally get to the controls but, I don't think you'd be ok with me killing Turians."

Kal glared at him, "Since when have you cared about what we wanted?"

Leng grinned back teasingly, "Since the moment I didn't care about the result. I have no doubt Victus will eventually clear us for travel, just maybe not in time to save your fake daughter."

Jack grabbed Kal's wrist before he started another scene, "Does anyone else have any non-violent ideas to get us out of here now?"

After a long moment, Saren broke the silence, "Let me talk to him."

Miranda's eyebrows shot up, "Absolutely not, as far as any of the Turians know you died as the terrorist who attacked the Citadel."

Saren ignored her staring directly at Jack, "Adrian and I have a history going back decades. If he'll listen to anyone's advice, it'll be me."

Miranda was also giving Jack a serious expression, "A history full of bloodshed and betrayal. Jack, we just have to wait for him to make a decision. The crew loss, while regretable, doesn't change the big picture. We have no chance of taking down the Collectors if we run there like Leng wants, or if we're immediately court martialed for harboring the most infamous terrorist in modern memory."

Jack knew this was going to be the most important decision he was going to have to make for the galaxy. Miranda was the most right here even if it wasn't morally right. With the translated data EDI provided, Victus wasn't going to be able to deny the Reapers existence, however, it could take months for a ship Captain to sift through all the data to realize the truth. Even if none of the crew had been taken, he doubted they had months before Sovereign obtained his new shell which only left him two options. Leng's was arguably the faster of the two but, left him getting charged with more murders which he didn't need. Plus, Leng had another motive for being here so there was no guarantee he wouldn't just steal a ship for himself and run. Then again, the last time he tried to use Saren as evidence for the Reapers, he was laughed off of the Citadel. He was overwhelmed with the decision until he saw Kal's face under his helmet. The Quarian was showing he had complete faith he was going to make the right call no matter what he said.

Making up his mind, Jack's gaze flicked to Saren, "Go, make him listen to you. We need the Normandy in the air now."

Saren stood up confidently, "I'll be back in ten minutes."

Miranda looked defeated rubbing her fingers together, "I'll go with you. Need to make sure you aren't shot or escape."

Jack gave an accepting nod, "Everyone else get ready for launch. We have to save our people."

Leng was the first person to start leaving, "If you change your mind and start seeing things my way I'll be in the cargo hold."

Feron glanced between the two of them before whispering, "I'll make sure he stays on the ship until we launch."

The rest of the room slowly filtered out awkwardly. Even though everyone appeared to be on the same page now, there was no denying it was tense. He thought Kal had been justified in his anger at first but, he pointed that gun at Legion and therefore Tali for far too long. At least their reaction to Garrus getting involved was the same, suggesting she knew Kal wouldn't have actually hurted her but, they all definitely needed to have a conversation about it. Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to facilitate patching things up with the Collector attack so imminent. Thankfully, he saw Tali brush Kal's arm as they both left, no too hard feelings then.

Soon he was just alone with Joker, "How are you holding up?"

Joker was as quiet as he had ever heard him playing with his hands, "There's a lot of empty chairs in here."

EDI surprisingly seemed to try and comfort him, "We did everything we could, Jeff."

Joker sounded a little helpless, "Yeah, thanks, Mom."

Jack knew that feeling too right now. Their hopes rested on Saren being able to convince a Turian that they needed to go now. And Saren definitely wasn't known for his talking skills.